A discussion on the use of different bits in the top of dressage will be on the agenda of the upcoming Global Dressage Forum (30-31 October, Hooge Mierde, Netherlands). A recent quote by Richard Davison: “Why can we compete in the UK at GP level in snaffle and at FEI level just in a double bridle? If governing bodies don’t like tight nosebands then they have to supply alternatives. French Grand Prix rider Alizee Froment will go one step further. During the Global Forum she will ride her Grand Prix horse bridleless.
Alizee Froment is the French pony Chef d'Equipe and a young Grand Prix rider who competes at CDI level. Riding dressage horses is her profession. Alizee: “No sooner dismounted from one horse than I am up on the next. It is the daily routine of all professional ridersâ€. Sometimes it is essential to break that routine, says Alizee. “It is the reason why one day, when my Grand Prix horse Mistral was saddled and waiting for me, I decided to leave the bridle aside and just puts his head-collar on. I needed to check that Mistral and I were still one. From the first tentative steps, I once more felt pleasure with blood running through my veins, found a taste of freedom and the immense confidence I had in him. More than anything, what came out was an optimal concentration between us, each on the other. In my eyes, dressage is the way toward perfect understanding and absolute harmony and working in the head-collar is a further step along this path. This is why I decided to work all my horses regularly in this way from my 5-year olds to my two Grand Prix horses ".
Alizee Froment will demonstrate her bridleless riding at the Global Dressage Forum and discuss with trainers, judges and an audience of international dressage experts from over 25 countries some of the following questions. Is bridles riding compatible with "classical" dressage? What about the technical riding details, how does one work like this, and how often, and how does it combine with usual double-bridle riding? And finally, to be discussed with the FEI representatives: to what extent should the rules of competitive dressage adapt?